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Over £52,000 raised for Walking With The Wounded before the race even starts

29 November 2013

Over £52,000 raised for Walking With The Wounded before the race even starts

The Virgin Money South Pole Allied Challenge to begin Saturday 30 November

Virgin Money Giving fundraisers have already raised over £52,000

The three teams will walk over 335km over the Antarctic Plateau

The Virgin Money South Pole Allied Challenge is the third expedition that Walking With The Wounded has staged to raise awareness and vital funds for the re-training of wounded servicemen and women and to assist them in finding new careers outside of the military.

As the teams made their final preparations to start their 335km/208 mile race over the Antarctic Plateau, they were energised by the news that over £52,000 has already been raised through Virgin Money Giving. The amount is increased to over £60,000 with Gift Aid.

Virgin Money Giving is the not-for-profit fundraising website from Virgin Money and the official fundraising partner for Walking With The Wounded. A special online hub has been created for the South Pole Allied Challenge that allows people to get involved and help to raise money. A great start has already been made and those who still want to get involved can visit the hub at www.virginmoneygiving.com/southpole2013.

Paul Lloyd, Marketing Director of Virgin Money said: “We are delighted that Virgin Money Giving is the official fundraising partner for Walking With The Wounded and we hope that our involvement will generate a significant boost in funds for this great charity. To have raised over £52,000 before the race has even started is really encouraging and long may it continue.

“What these teams are about to do is truly inspirational and so anyone who wants to get involved and support their efforts should visit our South Pole hub at Virgin Money Giving. It contains lots of ideas of how to get involved and help raise even more money. Simple ideas like organising a sponsored walk, whilst the teams undertake their trek to the South Pole can be effective fundraisers as well as good fun.”

The Virgin Money South Pole Allied Challenge is set to be the biggest expedition of its kind, with three teams racing to the Geographic South Pole. Team Glenfiddich (UK), Team Soldier On (Commonwealth) and Team Noom Coach (US) are the three teams of wounded servicemen and women who will embark on this gruelling challenge.

The teams, along with their mentors and guides, who include Prince Harry for Team Glenfiddich, actor Dominic West for Team Soldier On and Hollywood actor Alexander Skarsgård for Team Noom Coach, flew in from their base in Novolazarevskaya (Novo) earlier this week, following their acclimatisation process.

When asked about how he was feeling about the task that lay ahead, Expedition Patron, Prince Harry said from his forward airbase at Novo: “The military backgrounds that we have all got should carry us over, without a doubt.”

The expedition that is on target to start on Saturday will show the world the extraordinary courage and determination of the men and women who have been wounded while serving our countries.

Virgin Money Giving is the not-for-profit online fundraising arm of Virgin Money and was established in 2009. Virgin Money uses its infrastructure and expertise as a financial services business to ensure that Virgin Money Giving is efficient, secure and offers a high quality service to all fundraisers, charities and those wanting to donate to charity online

Virginmoneygiving.com is free for fundraisers, charges a flat registration fee of £100 + VAT for charities and a 2% fee on all donations before Gift Aid, which means for every £10 raised, charities receive £12.16. Virgin Money Giving charges charities the minimum fees needed to cover the running costs of the site. Any money left over after covering operating costs goes towards reducing fees further or improving services for fundraisers and charities

Fundraisers can personalise their fundraising pages, send out email alerts and manage their fundraising events. They can include their own content, photos and links to their page as well as customise messages for their supporters. Fundraisers can also link their page to social networking sites. Virgin Money Giving also contains fundraising ideas and tips, offering help and advice to fundraisers on how to raise more for charity